Bhanwar Singh, J. - (1.) THIS petition has been filed by Mrs. Martha S. Khan an officiating Principal of Emma Thompson School, Lalbagh, Lucknow, seeking a writ in the nature of certiorari quashing the impugned order dated 6.4.2004 contained in Annexure-1 along with resolution of April 5, 2004 of the Committee of Management. By virtue of these order and resolution the petitioner has been relieved of the office of officiating Principal and in her place, another Teacher Miss A. Walter has been appointed as the officiating Principal. It has also been prayed that by virtue of a writ in the nature of mandamus, the opposite parties be restrained from giving effect to the impugned order and resolution referred to above.
(2.) LALBAGH Christian Educational Society, LALBAGH is registered under the provisions of Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Society governs the Emma Thompson School, LALBAGH, Lucknow, an institution imparting education upto class XII standard. This school if affiliated to the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination of New Delhi. The Government of Uttar Pradesh issued a no objection certificate to the Emma Thompson School with the condition that the orders issued by the State of Uttar Pradesh or Educational Department shall be binding upon the society. The petitioner, who was an Assistant Teacher in the aforesaid school was appointed as officiating Principal with effect from August 25, 1995, following suspension of the then Principal Mrs. J. De' Castre and since then, she has been discharging her duties with utmost dedication and honesty. No show cause notice was ever served upon her. In her tenure as officiating Principal, the result of the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (Class X) has risen from 67% to 96%. Recalling the past events she asserted that in the meeting of the Management Committee held on 19.4.1996, the society resolved that the petitioner will continue to work as officiating Principal till the selection of the Principal was made. As the dismissed Principal Mrs. J. De' Castre, filed a writ petition and obtained an interim order to the effect that the opposite parties shall not fill up the post of Principal until further orders, the petitioner continued to officiate on the post of Principal without any hindrance or interruption. Despite the Court's interim order, the opposite parties No. 1 and 2 in a most arbitrary and illegal manner, appointed Miss. A. Walter as the officiating Principal in place of the petitioner. Miss. A. Walter is much junior to the petitioner and as per seniority rules she cannot dislodge the petitioner. The procedure adopted by the opposite parties in relieving her from the post of officiating Principal without any rhyme or reason smacks of arbitrariness and favouritism. Though the petitioner was on medical leave for a few days in the month of April, she had the charge of aforesaid post of Principal throughout. Neither any action has been taken against the petitioner nor the Society or the Manager of the Society has found any fault with her functioning, yet, by virtue of the unjust resolution, the Manager of the Society removed her from the office of Principal and issued the impugned order.
(3.) MRS. J. J. Able filed her counter-affidavit on behalf of the opposite parties and stated that Lalbagh Christian Educational Society managed several educational institutions including Emma Thompson (hereinafter referred to as the school), which is a minority institution. All the members of the Committee of Management are Christians. There are no statutory rules and regulations for governance of the institution. The petitioner was working as the officiating Principal of the school for more than eight years, but since the affairs of the school were worsening day by day, the Committee of Management of the school constituted an Evaluation Committee consisting of Dr. Prakash Masihas and others. The said Committee submitted an Evaluation Report on March 16, 2004 and a number of short-comings having serious repercussions on the reputation of the school in the eyes of public at large were pointed out. The Management Committee handed over the said report to the petitioner for remedial steps. Inspite of taking steps for improving the lot of the school, the petitioner proceeded to submit a counter-analysis, a perusal of which would show that since she was in a defiance mood, she was not prepared to listen sensible advice of the Management either for improving the affairs of the school or removing the short-comings recited in the Evaluation Report. The Committee of Management then resolved in the meeting held on 2.4.2004 that the officiating Principal be changed and a Screening Committee be constituted for its recommendation. A few guidelines were laid down by the Screening Committee for suggesting a panel of three persons for appointment of another officiating Principal. The Committee of Management selected one Miss A. Walter, a teacher of the senior class of the school itself as officiating Principal of the school. Mrs. Able, the Manager of the school and deponent of the counter-affidavit issued a letter of appointment to Miss. A. Walter. In pursuance of her appointment, Miss Walter assumed the charge of officiating Principal on 6.4.2004 and since then she has been working on that post. The petitioner was released from the responsibilities attached with the office of the officiating Principal of the school vide letter dated 6.4.2004. The petitioner who had reacted to the Evaluation Report had proceeded on leave w.e.f. 2.4.2004. In the matter of the petitioner's release from the office of the acting Principal neither violation of rules and regulations comes to picture as there are no service conditions of the teachers or employees nor there has been infringement of her any legal right. Therefore, the present petition is not maintainable. Besides this the school did not receive financial aid and assistance from the State Government nor it is under the control of the State Government. So from this point of view also, the opposite parties are not amenable to writ jurisdiction of this Court. The school being the minority school being run and managed by Lalbagh Christian Society is entitled for protection under Article 30 of the Constitution of India. The appointment of officiating Principal of the school is an integral and inseparable part of running and managing minority Educational Institution. Moreover, the petitioner has no legal right to stay in the office of the Principal as she was merely asked to officiate as Principal. In other words, her appointment being based on stop gap arrangement, she cannot claim as a measure of right to be permanently appointed on the post of Principal.;